


can we always be this close?

by the wanderer (a_sentimental_man)



Series: Catradora One-Shots [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, entrapta and scorpia are catra's siblings, i gave catra suppotive parents because that's what she deserves, literally just fluff, surprising lack of focus on the fake-dating part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:41:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25629895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_sentimental_man/pseuds/the%20wanderer
Summary: Catra,surprisingly, had been the first one to suggest it. When Adora had complained about her mother who had been pressuring her about settling down and getting aproper boyfriendfor Thanksgiving—even though Adora had told her that she was a lesbianmultiple times,something in Catra had snapped. She had found herself suggesting going as Adora's date, knowing that other than Adora having a girlfriend, Adora withCatraas her girlfriend would be Adora's mother's worst fear personified.It was the perfect plan. Too bad it derailed fairly quickly.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Catradora One-Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1856560
Comments: 7
Kudos: 252





	can we always be this close?

**Author's Note:**

> listen... this was supposed to be an actual, honest-to-god fake dating au but the plot kind pf derailed from me and catra and adora decided to be _reasonable_ and _realize their feelings for each other._ absolutely _not_ my fault. 
> 
> this is not beta read, so if you see any grammar or spelling mistakes, pls feel free to tell me <3

_ Catra,  _ surprisingly, had been the first one to suggest it. When Adora had complained about her mother who had been pressuring her about settling down and getting a  _ proper boyfriend  _ for Thanksgiving _ — _ even though Adora had told her that she was a lesbian  _ multiple times,  _ something in Catra had snapped. She had found herself suggesting going as Adora's date, knowing that other than Adora having a girlfriend, Adora with  _ Catra  _ as her girlfriend would be Adora's mother's worst fear personified. 

It was the  _ perfect  _ plan.

Adora, after hearing Catra's suggestion, had gone dead silent for a moment. Catra, wondering if she had broken her friend, had looked at her, alarmed, before her face slowly edged into a smile after Adora turned back to her with a look of absolute glee on her face. "That's  _ perfect,"  _ she crowed, echoing Catra's thoughts. 

Catra nodded, grinning back. And if her heart gave a forceful  _ thud  _ when she looked at Adora's gleeful face? Well, that was no one's business but her own. 

* * *

Catra's parents, when she had told them, had been less than thrilled. 

"Baby," her mother said, something anxious and worried in her gaze that made Catra squirm. Catra still wasn't used to anyone  _ caring  _ about her in a way that didn't reflect their need to be perceived as a good person; when she looked at her parents, she could feel that they genuinely cared about her, and that was something she felt she didn't feel she deserved, sometimes. Having been abandoned to the foster care system ever since she was little had hardened something in her, her rebellious attitude making her bounce back and forth from foster homes until she had finally been actually adopted by her parents when she was thirteen. Catra still didn't know what she had done to deserve it. 

Catra looked away, her dark face doing nothing to conceal her flushed cheeks. "What?" she snapped defensively. She saw her parents glance at each other from the corner of her eyes. 

"It does sound like the perfect plan… in theory," her dad said, looking awkward. Talking about  _ feelings  _ had never been one of his strong suits, and Catra, with a distant sort of horror, realized this was exactly what they were going to talk about now. Telling them about her fake-dating plan had been a mistake of  _ extremely  _ epic proportions. Dad, seeing her horrified face, smiled ruefully. "But what we're trying to say is that, well… this would be the perfect plan if your feelings for Adora were entirely platonic." 

"Nope," Catra said, feeling like she could sink through the floor in her embarrassment. If her feelings for Adora were  _ that  _ obvious… she didn't want to think about it. "We're  _ not  _ talking about this." 

"Well, if you don't want to…" Catra's dad hedged, and Catra inwardly breathed sigh of relief. Her mom rolled her eyes at both of them. 

"We just want to make sure you're going to do okay," her mom said, her voice soft. "I love Adora, but she's really the most oblivious person I've ever seen and—you know what I'm going to say." 

Catra laughed shortly. "Of  _ course,  _ yeah," she muttered; Adora had never been the most observant of people when it came to  _ feelings,  _ and Catra had always used it to her advantage to hide her feelings since she'd never been much of an actor. But Adora's best friends were much more observant than her—she had seen Glimmer whisper something to Bow when she had been caught looking longingly at Adora more than once. Though, thankfully, they had never mentioned it to Adora. As Glimmer had said, grudgingly: "Adora's our friend, but  _ you  _ are too," looking none too pleased about it. They had always wanted Catra to ask Adora out, but Catra had always avoided it; even if Adora said yes, there might be a slight possibility that if they break up, their friendship might be broken forever. And Catra  _ never  _ wanted to lose the first proper friend she had made. 

But some part of her still wanted to ask out Adora, too, now. She wasn't the same person she had been when she was sixteen and had looked at Adora and thought,  _ oh. Oh.  _

The fake-dating idea had been  _ her  _ plan. What did that say about her except that she was a masochist who  _ really  _ wanted to see what dating Adora was like?  __

Her mother, seeing the thoughtful look on her face, nodded, and thankfully, changed the subject to ask her how she was holding up at university. Catra, glad that it was a question she could easily answer, launched into a tale about her supplementary World Literature lecturer with more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary. 

* * *

"Hey, Adora?" Catra couldn't resist asking a day later after both of them had exhausted themselves studying and was lying down on the couch, dead to the world. 

"Yeah?" Adora said, her voice muffled through how she was burying her face on the couch. 

"Do you remember when we first met?" 

Adora actually looked up in surprise, her half asleep, red face looking more adorable than it had any right to be. "Of course I do," Adora said, looking like she was debating between asking  _ why  _ Catra was asking or answering Catra's actual question. Then, visibly deciding on the latter, she said: "You were this closed off fourteen year old, and sat down next to me during bio because there were no seats left anywhere else. I tried to ask you your name and you asked me—" 

"Why you cared, I remember," Catra said, laughing. That hadn't been the most auspicious beginning to their friendship, but Catra wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, either. She still remembered how Adora trailed after her after the period was over, determined to be her friend, taking it as a personal challenge when Catra hadn't responded to any of her questions. She had even dragged her best friends over to where Catra was sitting and had forcibly started a conversation with her, while Bow and Glimmer had hung around in the background, looking awkward. After that, Catra had given up on resisting her attempts at being friendly, knowing she couldn't get rid of her even if she wanted to. 

She had known, even then, that resisting Adora was futile. Resisting falling in love with Adora was even  _ more.  _

Now, Catra smiled nervously at the questioning look on Adora's face. "I was just asking because… what if after we pretend to date, we won't be friends anymore?" she said, hesitantly, trying not to sound as if she was asking "what if we  _ date and won't be friends anymore." _ "Yeah, I know that's irrational, and it was my idea in the first place, but—" 

Adora's expression cleared, replaced with a gentleness that only Adora could muster. "It  _ is  _ rational," Adora said. "I mean—I know we're best friends, and do you think I didn't think about that either? That was the  _ first thing  _ I thought about when you asked me. But I figured, if you wanted to do it, why not, right? Literally nothing can change that we're best friends. Besides, you have a week to decide." 

Catra heaved a sigh of relief. "So you aren't mad at me?" she couldn't help but ask, hating how vulnerable her voice sounded. She had tried to not be annoyed at herself for sharing her feelings,  _ especially  _ when it came to her friends and parents, but years of hiding them made that impossible, sometimes. It was easier to not be mad at herself, with Adora. It was  _ always  _ easier with Adora. 

Adora's eyes— _ blue,  _ blue like an ocean you could drown in—if possible, softened even more. "Of course. I can  _ never  _ be mad at you." 

"Well,  _ that's  _ a relief," Catra drawled in her worst sarcastic voice possible, desperate to find some way to break the tension as Adora's words hung over them, something foreign that Catra had never felt hanging in the air. The tension dissolved as Adora burst out laughing, her head thrown back, loud, raucous laughter that Catra couldn't help but love. 

She tried to ignore the disappointed pit in her belly, disappointment in  _ herself  _ for taking the cowardly option and not seeing what the  _ thing  _ that was hanging between them truly meant. 

Catra joined in on Adora's laughter, ignoring how it sounded fake even to her own ears. 

* * *

"I can't do it," she said to Entrapta and Scorpia later, miserably. Entrapta looked like she was listening intently to what Catra was saying, though there was a 50-50 chance she was thinking about one of her robots instead. Scorpia, however, looked like she was trying to figure out what to say. Scorpia and Entrapta, too, had been adopted by her parents, but two years after Catra herself had been adopted, and were a year younger than Catra and were still in high school. 

"Catra," Scorpia said, finally. "I think you  _ know  _ what the obvious option is." 

"What do you mean?" Catra asked, refusing to give her any ammunition she could use in the future. 

"Judging by Catra's facial expressions, Catra  _ does,  _ in fact, know what Scorpia is talking about," Entrapta mused, and Scorpia's face grew into a triumphant smile, causing Catra to blush under Entrapta's curious and Scorpia's triumphant stare. "Though I don't know  _ why."  _

"Because she  _ knows  _ the only reason she doesn't want to actually do it… is because she wants to date Adora for  _ real,"  _ Scorpia said, adopting a wise expression that Catra now hated more than literally anything else in the world. Having siblings was really  _ not  _ what it was like displayed in the media. "And you want to  _ actually  _ ask her out instead of hiding your feelings like you did most of the time at high school." 

Catra buried her face in her hands, wishing she could strangle Scorpia's cheerful face by reaching through her phone. "You didn't have to say it so  _ plainly."  _

"I, for one, am glad that you have come to that realization yourself," Entrapta said, looking genuinely happy for her. Catra blinked, touched. Before she could say anything in response, Entrapta continued: "Though, looking at your increased vitals every time you met Adora,  _ and  _ seeing her—"

"Okay, I've heard  _ enough, thank you,"  _ Catra said, groaning. Scorpia giggled, and it wasn't long before Catra joined in, Entrapta shrugging at their sense of humor and making a note for later.

* * *

"I don't want to fake-date you," Catra blurted out the next day when they were both having breakfast, causing Adora to choke on her too hot coffee and look more than a little bit hurt. Okay, most of the expression on her face was probably because of the coffee. 

Catra winced anyway, knowing that this was  _ not  _ the best time she could have brought that up. 

"You know I  _ said  _ I wouldn't be mad, Catra, but it's really  _ hard—"  _

"Because I'm in— because I want to date you for real!" Catra said, narrowly avoiding saying something she would regret. Judging by the way Adora's eyes widened, she had caught that slip. Catra couldn't help actively wishing for the sweet release of death.

"What did you say?" she asked, her voice deathly soft. 

"Because I want to date you for real?" Catra tried, and Adora's eyes, which had been angry just moments ago, became tinged with something Catra couldn't identify. 

"No, before that. Because I'm sure I'm in love with you too," Adora said, gazing at her without flinching. 

Catra startled. "Oh my  _ god,"  _ she said. "Did you just—" 

"Say it for the first time? Yes." 

"You absolute  _ asshole,  _ I was supposed—hmph!" 

She had  _ another _ thing to complain about when it was  _ Adora _ who kissed her for the first time, both their mouths tasting of coffee and them smiling into the kiss more than anything else. 

Adora didn't let her live down the way she gasped in surprise and smiled dopily at her after that kiss for  _ weeks.  _

* * *

"I realized you had feelings for me after you asked me if we could fake-date," Adora admitted later. "Actually—it was more Bow and Glimmer giving me a lot of hints until I figured it out for myself." 

Catra laughed, able to imagine how that conversation had gone  _ very  _ clearly. "That still doesn't explain how you're in love with  _ me,  _ though." 

"Don't say  _ me  _ like that," Adora said, her face set in a frown that Catra wanted desperately to kiss away. Then, knowing that she could  _ actually  _ do that now, Catra  _ did.  _

"Anyway," Adora said breathlessly after five minutes of absolute silence: "It wasn't actually like… a big revelation? Like, I always found you attractive, and thinking about dating you kind of made it all… click somehow."

Catra smiled so hard it hurt. 

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed reading this!! 
> 
> follow me on [tumblr!](https://a-sentimental-man.tumblr.com/)


End file.
